At first glance my assigned partner, Barbara, and I seemed very similar. When paired up during class we had contrasting numbers (me a 3 and her a 7), however; neither of us felt we had extremely strong opinions on labor unions. Even more basic, we weren’t quite sure what labor unions consisted of. The phrase ‘labor unions’ has always been used in school and in the news, but as far as bisecting the true meaning neither Barbara nor I felt we had much knowledge on the topic.
After class we committed to meeting a Tea Garden near the corner of Washington and Oak; it seemed like a relatively regular and neutral place to meet as I live in the superblock and Barbara lives near dinky town in the North star apartments. Barbara being a sophomore was also able to bring a car to campus so it was easier for us to meet at a place closer to where I live.
Once we finally sat down and attempted to dive in Barbara and I realized that just by talking about our previous work experience it became apparent why our numbers from the Power Point quiz were contrasting.
Barbara had acquired two main jobs throughout her middle and high school life. She was a babysitter /nanny for various families. Some she met through other friends and some were close family friends. She got along with the kids and had overall close relationships with the parents. She also got paid almost double minimum wage. Her second job was at her Dad’s company in a secretarial position. She would answer the phones, file various paper work, and run small errands for some of her dad’s employers. Barbara made the comment that she had no idea what she was doing when her dad initially brought her there. She had no credentials and barely even knew what a resume was. But, since her dad is the owner of the company, he had the authority to hire his daughter as the assistant secretary. Barbara also never really had set business hours she had to work. She would usually go with her dad when he would go to work, but if she had prior engagements or just did not feel like going there was no requirement saying she had to be at the office everyday five days a week. Barbara started babysitting towards the end of middle school up until senior year and still babysits when she’s home on breaks and in the summer. She worked at her dad’s company throughout the majority of high school.
It was difficult for me to relate to some of the previous employment Barbara acquired. Although I have babysat and nannied throughout most of high school it always seemed like a side job I would do for extra money when a friend needed me to take their babysitting job for the night or when the one family I knew who had young kids needed a sitter. The majority of my employment was at the local Caribou Coffee next to my high school and later Heartbreaker in Excelsior. Working at Caribou was never an easy task, especially in the mornings during the rush before work. Dealing with cranky people wanting their coffee in a minimal amount of time was stressful. The hours were also brutal as I am not a morning person and opening at 6 am meant I had to be there at 5:30. Doing PSEO, it was nice getting my hours in before I had to go to my afternoon classes, however, the early hours and okay pay made me decide I could babysit more and get paid the same if not more than I was earning at Caribou. A few months after quitting my Caribou job I worked at Heartbreaker. That was a horrible job. We were required to wear the inexpensive and badly made shoes sold in the store to work and the floors were all cement. If you were assigned to work ‘on the floor’ for the day you were standing all day. If your shift was longer than 6 hours you only got a 20 minute unpaid break. If you were assigned to the back room it was not as bad because you were able to sit and merely price merchandise, however; the back was dirty and infested with spiders. That job lasted for a month
The biggest difference between my previous employment and Barbara’s is that I am able to relate to employers that have bad working conditions. In these situations, labor unions seem like the most obvious resolution to poor working environments. Barbara was able to work without many rules and was always paid extremely well. Relating to babysitting, it was nice to watch kids in their homes where there was always food, TV, and the ability to take care of children without rules on if I could stand or not and what I had to wear. Although Barbara has swayed against labor unions because of the things her dad has said about them. She commented that she had never thought about it the way in which I had experienced. I can also understand the mindset her dad has acquired, as he is the owner of his company.
Although neither of us knew very much about labor unions, just talking about our previous employment helped us develop our opinions, and we both realized they were very similar to our scores on the Power Point quiz. For our Changing Minds Project I think it will be easy to see each other’s point of view and hopefully remember each others experiences when talking about labor unions again.
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